Editorial: OHSU seeks scholarships to help rural areas

As thousands of newly insured patients seek treatment under the Affordable Care Act, will they be able to find a doctor to see them?

The problem will be particularly acute in states like Oregon with large, sparsely populated areas and uneven distribution of providers.

At the same time, the cost of a medical education and the crushing debt of graduates limits the number of relatively low-paid primary care medical practitioners.

Oregon Health & Science University is asking the Legislature to provide nearly $5 million over the next two years to pay tuition and fees for 40 students each year, who would promise to work after graduation in the state’s underserved or rural communities.

In making the case for its Scholars for a Healthy Oregon Initiative, OHSU notes that nearly 400,000 people in Oregon are expected to be newly eligible for health insurance next year, but there’s no comparable surge in the number of doctors, nurses and others to care for them.

And with average debt levels ranging from nearly $45,000 for nurses to close to $200,000 for doctors and dentists, graduates are less likely to choose lower paying primary care, and even less likely to work in even lower paying rural communities.

In 2010, only 10 percent of Oregon’s doctors practiced in rural areas, OHSU reported, where 37 percent of the state’s population lives.

The plan, presented in Senate Bill 2, would require successful applicants to work in a designated area for the same number of years as their training, plus one. If they failed to do so, they would be required to reimburse the program plus a penalty.

Although we favor the idea behind this program, we do have two concerns.

First, the proposal says that preference will be given to applicants who are Oregonians, first generation students, come from a rural university and/or “represent a diverse or rural background.” That’s because “research shows that students who are from a rural or underserved area are six times more likely to want to return to that area.” Legislators need to carefully examine the justification for this preferential treatment and be sure it’s valid.

Also, legislators should assure themselves that OHSU is moving to increase the number of its graduates, not just get taxpayers to pay for some of them. The Affordable Care Act will increase the need for medical professionals nearly everywhere.

-->

As thousands of newly insured patients seek treatment under the Affordable Care Act, will they be able to find a doctor to see them?

The problem will be particularly acute in states like Oregon with large, sparsely populated areas and uneven distribution of providers.

At the same time, the cost of a medical education and the crushing debt of graduates limits the number of relatively low-paid primary care medical practitioners.

Oregon Health & Science University is asking the Legislature to provide nearly $5 million over the next two years to pay tuition and fees for 40 students each year, who would promise to work after graduation in the state’s underserved or rural communities.

In making the case for its Scholars for a Healthy Oregon Initiative, OHSU notes that nearly 400,000 people in Oregon are expected to be newly eligible for health insurance next year, but there’s no comparable surge in the number of doctors, nurses and others to care for them.

And with average debt levels ranging from nearly $45,000 for nurses to close to $200,000 for doctors and dentists, graduates are less likely to choose lower paying primary care, and even less likely to work in even lower paying rural communities.

In 2010, only 10 percent of Oregon’s doctors practiced in rural areas, OHSU reported, where 37 percent of the state’s population lives.

The plan, presented in Senate Bill 2, would require successful applicants to work in a designated area for the same number of years as their training, plus one. If they failed to do so, they would be required to reimburse the program plus a penalty.

Although we favor the idea behind this program, we do have two concerns.

First, the proposal says that preference will be given to applicants who are Oregonians, first generation students, come from a rural university and/or “represent a diverse or rural background.” That’s because “research shows that students who are from a rural or underserved area are six times more likely to want to return to that area.” Legislators need to carefully examine the justification for this preferential treatment and be sure it’s valid.

Also, legislators should assure themselves that OHSU is moving to increase the number of its graduates, not just get taxpayers to pay for some of them. The Affordable Care Act will increase the need for medical professionals nearly everywhere.

Connect with The Bulletin

Popular stories for News

Eighteen-year-old Jenny Lanter died this spring after sustaining injuries in a car accident. But Lanter’s parents and friends hope that her sweet spirit will continue to live on through a special dance scholarship created in her memory. Mom Renee Lanter, of Bend, believes her daughter would be very honored to know this scholarship existed, and she sees it as a positive development for the family…
... more

The holiest plant of the Christmas season may be a raggedy shrub with peeling bark that seems to grow best in a dusty backyard in Tempe, Ariz. This is Boswellia sacra, better known as the frankincense tree. The shrub’s gum resin is one of the three biblical gifts that the wise men bestowed on the infant Jesus. Until recently, Americans who wished to cultivate their…
... more

The reality: That is not true, said Dr. Richard Koller, a Bend neurologist. A sneeze does increase the pressure inside the skull a little bit, he said. People have worried that sneezes may kill brain cells because other things that increase pressure on the brain, such as some types of stroke, can lead to brain cell death or even the death of the person. However,…
... more

SALEM — For years, Bend resident Cylvia Hayes’ good relations with state officials have been a boon, helping her win contracts as a green energy consultant. Now she’s finding that her relationship with one official in particular — Gov. John Kitzhaber, her longtime companion — can be a hindrance as well. Hayes refers to herself alternately as the “first lady” and “first partner” and says…
... more

State regulators have revoked licenses to sell and produce manufactured homes from Fuqua Homes Inc. and imposed a $155,000 civil fine, saying the company, which operated a factory and dealership in Bend, took deposits but failed to deliver some homes, according to an order released Thursday. The order from the Department of Consumer and Business Services' Division of Finance and Corporate Securities states that the…
... more